


Dissonance

by uumuu



Series: Canon Snippets [9]
Category: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Gap Filler, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-31
Updated: 2017-03-31
Packaged: 2018-10-13 06:43:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10508412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/uumuu/pseuds/uumuu
Summary: Celegorm and Maedhros talk soon after Celegorm and Curufin arrive in Himring.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Fills the Trust square in my GenPrompt bingo card.

“ _They_ attacked us first!”

“Did they? Can I trust you to tell me the truth?”

“We were crossing the forest, slowly, because the ground was rocky and we had never been there before, when the man suddenly threw himself against Curvo's horse and unsaddled him. He tried to strangle Curvo, but Curvo managed to stab him in the side with that dwarvish dagger he used to carry on his belt. Then Huan started to bark at us.” Celegorm stomps back and forth in Maedhros's small private drawing room in the main tower of the fortress in Himring, his arms crossed tightly over his chest, his shoulders hunched over with tension. “She bewitched him!” he snarls, knitting his eyebrows together. “Huan would never attack me.”

Maedhros nods, despite the many misgivings he still has about whatever happened in Nargothrond and after Nargothrond. He can't ignore his brother's distraught expression. Celegorm huffs and his shoulders slump a little.

“I –...I couldn't attack Huan, so we had to leave, on one horse, since the valiant princess stole Curvo's horse, too.”

“And you went on to cross Nan Dungortheb like that,” Maedhros says curtly, reproachingly, still reeling from the mere thought of the danger his brothers faced, twice, once with their people and once on their own.

“It would have taken too long to retrace our steps and travel all the way around Doriath.”

“Why did you decide to come here by crossing Nan Dungortheb in the first place? So that you could come as quickly as possible to me and sell me your version of events?”

Celegorm snorts, and his mouth pulls up in a mirthless grin. “Carrier pigeons would have gotten to you faster anyway.”

“They did, in fact.” Maedhros tugs on Celegorm's arms to coax him into disentangling them and takes Celegorm's hand, while he goes over the message he received from Fingon in his mind, a long missive relaying Orodreth's complaints – apparently, Orodreth didn't even want to deal with any son of Fëanor directly anymore. “Orodreth places the blame for Finrod's death squarely at your feet.”

“Why? It's not like we pushed him out of the door.”

“For convincing his people not to go with him.”

“Ah that,” Celegorm gives a cackle, then shrugs. “Orodreth himself was defending the island with a strong garrison, but they were driven out. Even if Finrod had had an army with him they wouldn't have been able to retake it, and even if they had managed to make it past Tol Sirion they would have ended up being slaughtered or captured on the Anfauglith. Finrod's people should thank us for sparing them a good deal of suffering.”

Maedhros grimaces at the words, but when Celegorm opens his mouth again he silences him pre-emptively with a shake of his head. Celegorm isn't entirely wrong. One too many of their kings have ridden into the enemy's hands already. Besides, if Orodreth had been so concerned about Finrod's success nothing would have prevented him from going with him. “That is quite true...quite true indeed, and yet...Finrod _probably_ placed his trust in you.”

“Trust? He knew the terms of Oath, he knew them quite well, yet he was ready to help a mortal steal our father's gems so that the man can buy his beloved from her father. Nelyo, if Thingol does get a Silmaril –”

“Shh,” Maedhros stops Celegorm before he can finish that thought, and sighs. He doesn't even want to take the eventuality into consideration. He will content himself with the fact that his brothers are safe, for the time being. “You look horrible, you should definitely take a bath, and rest.” He draws Celegorm towards himself and hugs him, wrapping his good arm around his waist and his stump around his nape. The one thing he rues the most about losing his hand is the fact that he can't ruffle his brothers' hair anymore when he hugs them, but Celegorm lowers his head on his chest and allows him to rub his cheek against the top of his head instead.

**Author's Note:**

> I do believe that the encounter between Celegorm and Curufin and Lúthien and Beren as we read it in the Silmarillion is heavily biased in B&L's favour (and isn't what Maedhros heard), since I doubt anyone ever asked Celegorm and Curufin their version of events. That said, Celegorm's version of events isn't necessarily more truthful. (I tend to view it pretty much as the murder in Akutagawa Ryonosuke's "In a Grove", where every participant/witness gives a starkly different account.)


End file.
